Categoría: English

The European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final begins in Madrid this week and we will be broadcasting exclusive almost-live cards up* coverage of the Main Event via our webcast on Pokerstars.TV

The broadcast will begin with cards down, but when we get down to four players coverage will stop and resume with hole cards up at 08:00 ET. The Main Event coverage will then be followed by the Champion of Champions event(webcast only).

The series has come a long way since the first game in 1970, when just a few seasoned pros gathered in Vegas to see who was the best of the best.
How did the World Series of Poker Come to Pass?

It all begins with three men, years before the first World Series of Poker, in 1949, when Nick “the Greek” Dandalos asked Lester “Benny” Binion, owner of the Horsehoe Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, to arrange the biggest poker game of all time. Binion knew just the guy to take on the Greek – Johnny Moss, who at the time was regarded as the best poker player in the world. With Binion’s promise to bankroll him, Johnny Moss agreed to the match, and sat down to play at a game that would go on for five long months. They played every type of poker for huge pots of hundreds of thousands of dollars until at last, the Greek decided he was beat and got up from the table saying, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”

The epic battle between Moss and the Greek sparked an idea in Benny Binion’s head, and in 1970 he invited the best poker players he knew, including Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim Preston, Brian “Sailor” Roberts, Puggy Pearson, Crandall Addington, and Carl Cannon to play No-Limit Texas Hold’em against each other in front of a crowd. Instead of playing until one player had all the chips, the players voted on who was the best, and Johnny Moss was unanimously chosen.

In 1971 the World Series was a freeze-out, winner-take-all tournament, which Johnny Moss once again won. Over the following years, it evolved into a “shared purse” tournament, in which not only the first place winner, but several other top finishers won a share of the prize money. Registration was open to anyone who had the $10,000 bucks to put up, and enrollment grew, but it wasn’t until satellite tournaments for the event were started that the numbers really started growing. Now, instead of plopping down the whole 10K, players could win a 10K seat by winning their way through a field of players at a lower buy-in tournament.

Still, the number of players at the Main Event remained under a thousand until 2003. Then, Chris Moneymaker won the top prize.

As the fallout from Poker Black Friday continues, it’s been interesting to observe how this has impacted the online poker industry, both on poker sites that were targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the sites that (for now) are free from prosecution. The first and most obvious effect is a leveled out poker world since the indictments, a world where even the smallest pokers sites have gained a leg up on the competition; at least until they too have to process cashouts in front of the watchful eye of the DOJ.(más…)

There is positive news for online poker. It was announced Wednesday that Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars had struck a deal to regain the use of their respective dot-com sites. While players from the U.S. will still not be permitted to play for real money, the rest of the world will be able to use the sites for play.
In a press release, U.S Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said, «On April 15, this Office and the FBI took specific legal action against 11 individuals who allegedly engaged not merely in the operation of illegal gambling businesses, but in massive wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering, despite repeated warnings and clear notice that their conduct was illegal in the United States. No individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained, and each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player’s deposited funds. In fact, this Office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them, and we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players, as today’s agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker demonstrate.»(más…)

“We’re contacting you following the recent actions by the U.S. government last Friday 15th April.
As you may be aware, Full Tilt Poker is unable to accept “real money” play from U.S. players at the current time, and this includes any deposits or withdrawals. We are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible and will keep you updated as information becomes available to us.
We are deeply sorry for this inconvenience, but these events are beyond our control. Please be assured that your funds are safe, and we thank you for your patience while we do everything in our power to have money returned to those who have requested it as soon as possible.
Please note, that this action only impacts players based in the U.S. and Full Tilt Poker is still fully operational elsewhere. Players can currently access our site at http://www.fulltilpoker.co.uk which is available using the normal login details.
As always, we appreciate your continued support, and we will provide additional information to you as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
The Full Tilt Poker Affiliate Team”

and it made me feel much safer now that they are issuing an official statement, i hope they enable real money games soon.

U.S. online poker was shaken on Friday as the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against several industry leaders. Poker.org brings you a round-up of the events and possible consequences.

Friday witnessed one of the biggest blows to U.S. online poker unfold as the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against several industry leaders, including market giants PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

April 15, 2011, will come to be known as Black Friday in the poker community. The online poker world that we have become used to over the past decade is forever changed.
The indictments revealed by the U.S. Southern District of New York against the owners of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker are serious. The short-term outlook for online poker is grim.
PokerStars already has stopped serving the U.S. market. I expect Full Tilt Poker and probably Absolute Poker to follow. I would not expect these sites to serve the U.S. market again until after online poker is officially legalized, licensed and regulated in the country. Even then, the chances of these sites obtaining a license have been severely impacted. Americans with money on the sites likely will get it back eventually but, as it did when the Neteller founders were indicted, it could take a while. (más…)

Jonathan Duhamel is from Canada, and studied Administration Finance before earning millions of dollars at the World Series of Poker*. He also worked a string of jobs while learning the game by playing against friends every day. He crushed the learning curve fast, and was soon good enough to make it as a pro. Although he probably never imaged just how big his success would prove to be.